What If: T’Challa Became Star Lord?

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

T’Challa becomes Star Lord instead of Peter Quill, and maybe even does it better?

I think this was a very average episode. Nothing really blew me away about it, really it just feels like they are recycling the plot’s of other Marvel films for extra profits, yes with a few changes but the story structure feels much the same.

I thought the idea of space Black Panther was interesting, Chadwick Boseman has a lot of fun and it is nice to see him back in the role, even if it is bittersweet when you remember. Moreover, I thought the idea that Black Panther was in fact a better Star Lord than the one we have come to know quite amusing, I liked how even Drax liked him more.

The biggest issue with this episode is by far its plot, because once it gets past the initial charm of T’Challa in space, it is just a generic heist plot that has no stakes at all. Once the episode switches to the heist my mind just turns off, I don’t care about some McGuffin that the characters are trying to steal that likely will never come back in the MCU again.

Moreover, I thought the sting at the end about how the Peter Quill of this universe is getting on was actually more entertaining and interesting than the story we got.

Overall, though Boseman is strong the rest of the episode isn’t, and it feels incredibly mediocre.

Pros.

Boseman

The concept

Thanos but as a good guy

Cons.

The heist plot

It is very generic

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Avengers Age Of Ultron: Hawkeye’s Moment In The Sun

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Science Bros themselves create an artificial intelligence with the goal of ensuring world peace, however rather unsurprisingly it becomes evil.

I don’t think this is near the top of anyone’s list of favourite MCU films. My issues with this film come from the way it is structured and paced. The film feels like it goes on for about an hour too long, and during the exorbitant runtime it sets up a million different things for future films, some of which don’t even end up happening. Truly, therein lies the problem with this film, it is trying to do too much. A lot of Marvel films set up things to come, but this film feels more focused on what is coming then it does on actually being a good film. This can be seen best in the end credits sting of Thanos coming to get the gauntlet, which whilst a cool visual has little to do with the MCU in that moment.

Moreover, the romance between Black Widow, Scarlett Johannsson, and Bruce Banner, Mark Ruffalo, is one of the most poorly thought out decisions in the MCU. Firstly, Winter Soldier gave us Natasha in a staring role where her merit is not decided on being someone’s girlfriend or her ability to have kids, yet here she is reduced to a supporting character and Hulk’s girlfriend. Ew. Secondly, there is a line in which Natasha refers to herself as a monster for the fact she can’t have children, despite being forcefully sterilised whilst in the Red Room program, pardon me what? What sort of message does this send? It also destroys Hulk as a character as he does not really say anything to reassure her after she says this, the whole scene is needless. Finally, the relationship existing at all devalues and basically nullifies Banner’s relationship with Betsy Ross, Liv Tyler, from his solo film, which was the heart and soul of that film, so that sucks.

There are things I like about this film such as the introduction of the Twins and Hawkeye, Jeremy Renner, getting far more of an expanded role. I think this is the best we have ever seen Hawkeye and likely will ever see him, here he gets a number of heroic moments and really does standout amongst the jacked line up. Moreover, the decision to blend horror into Wanda’s, Elizabeth Olsen, early appearances by having her movements be played backwards is a stroke of pure genius and as a creative choice really works for me.

Overall, it has its moments but is by far one of the weaker MCU films.

Pros.

Scarlet Witch’s early movement

Hawkeye

The final scene at Avengers Academy

Cons.

The Black Widow/Hulk romance

The scene where Natasha reveals she can’t have kids

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Dirty Harry: A Troubled Classic

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Unorthodox inspector Harry Callahan, Clint Eastwood, tries to catch a sniper that is roaming the streets of San Francisco gunning down innocent people.

I have had this on my watch list for some time and now that I have I can see why people think it is a noir classic. All the elements of the film come together in such a way to really give this film a classic noir feel, the cinematography, the editing, even the colour choices are all very evocative.

Eastwood is strong in the role and has a number of memorable moments and catchphrases. I think his is the only performance that stands out of the film, and your feeling towards him are mixed. He can be both the cheer worthy hero and also the detestable villain, I’m talking about when he punches the jumper.

There are several lines that age poorly, and that would be offensive when viewed by today’s standards. I tried my best to ignore them whilst watching, but they did put me off it as it was fairly recurrent. Before you counter that by saying oh those were the times, racism has never been okay.

Overall, a slick film that looks a little more dirty when viewed in today’s framing.

Pros.

Clint Eastwood

A very memorable moments

It is slick

Cons.

The racism

The condoning of police torture

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Captain America The Winter Soldier: If A Government Agency Wants The Ability To Kill Anyone Anywhere Generally They Are Evil.

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Captain America, Chris Evans, is forced to question what and who he is fighting for, when Shield, the government agency he has been fighting for turns out to be overrun with nefarious forces hellbent on world domination.

Until Antman and the Wasp came out this was my favourite MCU film. I watched it several times when it first came out, but this is my first time rewatching it since. Whilst I still think this is one of the best films in the MCU, I can see that there are issues with it that I didn’t see the first time around namely the pacing.

I enjoyed the deeply personal feel of the film, and the great character work between Cap and those around him. I think the character interactions are at their strongest with Cap and Scarlett Johannsson’s Black Widow, with this really being the film for me where she really came into the character and established a firm presence within the MCU. Moreover, I like the set up and building friendship between Cap and Sam Wilson, Anthony Mackie. Evans and Mackie have strong chemistry together and this makes for a number of strong humorous scenes.

I thought the Hydra twist worked really well and is an excellent choice to reset the MCU status quo. Moreover, the return of Bucky, Sebastian Stan, now as a villain is a stroke of genius as it furthers the emotional and moral burden on Caps shoulders. Even when first watching I knew the film was going to bring back Bucky as I was familiar with the character from the comics, however for those who are not familiar with the source material this would have been quite a surprising reveal I am sure.

Chris Evans performance as Cap is even better than it was in the first film, and that is saying something. He plays the do-gooder who no longer knows how to do good so well, and I enjoy the morality of the character and his decisions this time around. I think Evan’s performance emotes this split in the character, and he does a lot without saying very much at all. Certainly one of the best performances in the MCU.

Overall, a strong MCU film that has a few slow scenes but on the whole manages to be one of the best films in the MCU.

Pros.

Evans

Johansson

The twist

The Winter Soldier

Cons.

The pacing is off

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71: Surviving The Troubles

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

This film follows Gary Hook, Jack O’Connell, a young soldier who becomes separated from his unit and finds himself having to survive the night in Northern Ireland during the Troubles.

I enjoyed this film a fair bit, it kept me entertained throughout. I thought the film did a good job of maintaining its tension and it never allowed you to feel safe, or to feel like the character was safe, which also adds to the realism of the film.

In many respects this is quite a hard film to watch, there are a number of scenes that are very visceral and graphic and that will leave and impression on you afterwards. The sudden and random death of Hook’s fellow soldier early in the film being one of them, in many ways it perfectly manages to capture the murky and unpredictable nature of that part of Irish history.

Moreover, Sean Harris as the morally dubious covert intelligence officer Captain Browning is a revelation. Harris always shines through whatever he appears in and adds an uncertain edge to proceedings. I would say he comfortably out acts O’Connell here, with the latter’s rough boy charm sometimes clashing with the character he is trying to portray. For example when Hook is taking his younger brother out for the day he becomes very angry at the doorman for no explained reason, this doesn’t work when later in the film he is portrayed as the ordered and controlled soldier who would never lose his temper in a yobish sort of way. It becomes a clashing personality over the film.

Overall, a good film though more character work was needed with the construction of the lead, a fixed personality was needed rather than one that jumps around.

Pros.

Harris

The tension

Not knowing what was going to happen next

Cons.

O’ Connell

A few plot threads that are unanswered and also go nowhere

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The Bad Batch: Return To Kamino Finale Part One

3.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The Batch head back to Kamino to save Hunter and whilst there have to atone for the sins of their past.

I have thought for a long time the Batch needed to face a reckoning for what they did to Crosshair and this episode finally delivers on it. They talk a lot throughout the show about loyalty, but they left Crosshair behind, even when they realised that he was being mind controlled by the inhibitor chip they still didn’t act, they needed to be asked why they behaved like that and they are here. However, the answers we get are fairly weak, they left him behind because he started shooting at them, even though he was mind controlled……. Or so they think.

I thought the twist of the episode that Crosshair was in fact never mind controlled and had his inhibitor chip removed years ago, raises a lot of interesting questions. Furthermore, it adds to the shades of grey for the series, as Crosshair even says something to the extent of we are soldiers, so he had no issue switching sides and carrying on. It makes the Batch question there own morality, and interestingly for us it recontextualises the show.

I do think the worst thing about this episode much like the rest of the series is Omega, whether it is her having a tantrum about going and rescuing Hunter, as if his friends did not want to go and get him back, or her turning on all the battle droids to try and help which instead almost ended up killing the Batch. Moreover, they try and write some drama into her arc in this episode by having it be emotionally hard for Omega to return to Kamino, but you just don’t care because the series has failed in its efforts to make you care about her character, as I have previously said a Grogu she is not.

Overall, a strong penultimate episode that sets up a big finally, ruined only slightly by Omega once again.

Pros.

Crosshair

The Batch finally facing some accountability

The ending

The twist

Cons.

Omega

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The Avengers: The Film That Changed Hollywood

4.5/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

The phase one heroes finally assemble, and we get to see the birth of the Avengers.

Rewatching this now, all these years later the magic is still there. There is just something about seeing all these heroes interacting on screen for the first time that just resonates no matter how many times you have seen it. Each character and even the main supporting characters are all given their moment and it truly does feel like an ensemble, a team building activity.

The reason I didn’t give this a five as you might have expected me to, is because of Loki and the strange characterisation he is given. Up until this point the only other time we have seen the character is in Thor, so that is what I will judge him off, in that film he is villainous sure, but he is also redeemable and remorseful by the end, he is more along the antihero line. Here however, he is uncharacteristically evil, wanting to ‘crush the ants’ and basically make humans a slave race, and yes you could say it was Thanos messing with his head or the mind stone, but to me it seems like bad writing. Maybe originally a different villain was supposed to be used here, one that would make more sense as being a purely evil character and he was rewritten to be Loki as the character proved popular. A few comedic scenes thrown in here and there can’t distract from the noticeable change.

I think my personal favourite thing about this film is Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson. Coulson was always there is the background in most of the early films and yes here and there he got a witty one liner or had a memorable moment, but it was not until this film that he really came into his own as a character. He is the heart and soul of this film, and the choice to have him die here is simply a master stroke as it ends up with you feeling the same way the characters do which helps you to connect with them more and give greater meaning to the Avengers forming. Moreover, as a moment it is surprising as you quickly learn just how much you care about this fairly average background character.

Overall, a film that does nearly everything right.

Pros.

The character work

The set up

The character interactions

The final battle

The humour

Cons.

Loki

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What If: Captain Carter Were The First Avenger?

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

An Elseworlds tale that answers the question what if Peggy Carter got the Super Soldier Serum rather than Steve Rogers.

Personally I am loving how political phase four of the MCU is getting, with this first episode, Black Widow and Falcon And The Winter Soldier, all addressing worldly issues I feel the MCU is finally in a place where it can start making statements. This episode goes hard on how Peggy up until this point has been shut out and overlooked because of her gender, I like that by doing this and then having her become Captain Carter it allows the character to feel far more like a feminist icon. I enjoyed seeing how she played off the other male characters after she had the serum, especially when she said to the, deeply sexist, general character that he was ‘lucky to even be in the room’, that was a cheer worthy moment for me.

I liked how this episode gave us moments that would already be familiar to us as MCU fans but put a twist on them, we get to see Bucky not fall off the train, no one getting frozen in ice and Steve Rogers becoming a totally different superhero. I thought this was fascinating and by far the biggest selling point of the show, as the idea of what if this changed is always one that keeps you coming back.

I enjoyed what this episode did with Peggy and Steve, showing the romance more from her point of view. I thought it was just as sweet and as heart-breaking as it was the first time we saw it in The First Avenger, hopefully Captain Carter will get to go back in time and get her dance with her sweet heart just like Steve Rogers did in the main timeline- just hopefully with a few more adventures before that for us all to enjoy.

My only issue with the episode and it is only a minor thing is that Chris Evans is not back to voice Steve Rogers. It is strange as almost everyone else is back Hayley Atwell is back as Peggy, Dominic Cooper is back as Howard Stark even Toby Jones is back as Zola, so it seems like a pretty big deal that Evans isn’t back in the role. Maybe they couldn’t afford him, maybe he didn’t want to come back but to me it felt a little jarring to hear someone else voicing the character. Hopefully I won’t have the same issue when we get to the Iron Man episode.

Overall, a really strong starting episode that introduced us perfectly to Captain Carter hopefully we get to see tons more from her in the years to come.

Pros.

Captain Carter

Getting political

The monster at the end

The same but different

Cons.

Not getting Evan’s back

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Captain America The First Avenger: Lying On Top Of Grenades

4/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Little guy Steve Rogers, Chris Evans, is given a super soldier serum because he is pure of heart, once this happens he is sent over seas to be the US poster boy for the Western Front conflict.

I the Captain America movies are always the best or amongst the top tier of any MCU phase, certainly this is true of phase one of the MCU. What I enjoy the most about this film is the earnestness of Evan’s performance, you buy him as this guy who has been picked on all his life but who never gives in and who always stands up for what he believes in. Moreover, what separates Captain America from someone like Iron Man is the fact that he wholly just a good person that tries to see the best in people, whereas Iron Man is the loveable rouge, which can be grating.

I think of Phase one the Red Skull is easily the best villain; it is a real loss that Hugo Weaving does not want to come back. Weaving brings a lot to the role, he plays evil well whether it is through facial acting, subtle mannerism or line delivery. I thought his character was just as menacing before he took his face off and that is all on Weaving.

Furthermore, I liked seeing the formation of an early Shield team. I thought Hayley Atwell was superb as Agent Carter, I am glad that What If is bringing the character back there is a lot more there to explore and the series didn’t do her justice- though that is more the fault of the cancelation than anything else. Moreover, I thought Dominic Cooper was a strong Howard Stark, who I liked more than the other version we get. Additionally if you’re reading Disney executives you should make a young Howard Stark show with Dominic Copper back in the role, it would be fantastic to see him in the war setting and during the cold war, you could have him age into the later version of the character.

Overall, the best of the origin movies.

Pros.

Chris Evans

The likeability

Hayley Atwell

Dominic Cooper

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Iron Man 2: Poison In The Heart

3/5

Written by Luke Barnes

Summary

Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr, has to answer the sins of his father and hold off the US Government from stealing his property.

So to many this is one of the worst films in the MCU, however, I enjoy it. I enjoyed it when I first watched it in cinemas, I enjoyed it when I first watched the DVD and I enjoyed it when I rewatched it recently. There are a plethora of reasons for this.

Unlike a lot of people I actually find Mikey Rourke’s Whiplash to be an interesting villain and Sam Rockwell is a lot of fun as Tony’s jealous rival. Are they the best written of all the MCU villains? No of course not, but I enjoyed Rourke’s cartoonish evil performance, and Rockwell’s pathetic yet trying to pretend not to be character. I found both amusing.

Moreover, I really like what they do with Rhodey, Don Cheadle, here. I am a big War Machine fan and I like when they have the final showdown with the two of them just going to town on all those drones. I think across the tapestry of the MCU Rhodey has been deprived of anything even close to a cool moment, and this is as good as it gets for him. I thought the final scene of Tony, Rhodey and Pepper, Gwyneth Paltrow, on the roof together was hilarious and a good indication of things to come.

However, something that does become more uncomfortably apparent when rewatching is just how much of a creep Tony Stark is. As a kid watching these films in the cinema Tony was my favourite character but watching them again now you notice how he is around women. Not only is he a misogynist, but he also literally only sees the women around him as sexual objects, for an example of what I am talking about one simply has to look at how he treats Natasha Romanoff, Scarlett Johansson, when they first meet, and he thinks she is just one of his employees. He is a creep.

Overall, I like it a lot more than a lot of other people, but I can see its flaws.

Pros.

Rhodey

The final fight

The roof top scene

Cons.

Tony is a creep

How they introduce Black Widow

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